Isn't overclocking really just a sign of inner-mailaise?

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tickle-trunk

New Member

What I mean is, is the speed increase really worth it? Is the satisfaction of knowing that you tinkered (or hacked) your machine to make it work better worth it? I mean, I know that it gives a person some kind of satisfaction, but is it really, honestly satisfying?

I think it isn't. Overclocking strikes me as a symptom of existentialist anxst. We need to be challenged, to have something interesting and worthwhile to do, but because there is almost nowhere to chanel this urge to contribute, we invent things like the nobility of overclocking. We are all little Alan Turings with no Nazi code to crack (and with no world hanging on whether or not we crack it) and so we invent inner fictions to fill the void.

What we need is another direction, I think. What we need is an open-source seti-project (not that embarassing, leave-it-alone-and-don't-touch-it [email protected]) where we can channel our energy in novel and resourceful ways.

Better yet, we need an alien invasion, and then an open-source world-project dedicated to cracking the alien code they're using to coordinate their ships, or something.

That way, we can overclock our machines for a reason (rather than to simply make a faster cpu out of a slower one for the nobility of it).

Any thoughts?

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Moraelin

New Member

Well, for my own two pence, first and foremost it's a hobby. A way to waste some time. And, frankly, it's as good as any other hobby. Some people collect stamps, some people go bowling, some sit and watch some stupid football game, etc.

Can you really say it would be saner for me to yell encouragements and advice to some football player? One that can't even hear me, knows more about football than me, and is better paid than me anyway?

Some are more "hardcore" about it, and go into peltiers, water cooling, etc. For me, it was just adding some bigger fans and spending some time tweaking the settings.

Is it worth it? As long as it keeps me entertained, I'd say it is.

Is it worth it financially? I wouldn't know. At the time I bought my 650MHz Athlon, an 800 MHz one cost (around here) about 400$ more. I could get mine to perform the same, for only the cost of a couple of fans, and a GFD I didn't really need. (Plus an Abit KA7, mobo, but I needed a mobo anyway, and Abit is a good one anyway, so it doesn't really count as an expense for purely overclocking.) In fact, actually a bit better than an 800 MHz one. Strange as it may sound, a 780 MHz at 120 MHz FSB is faster than 800 MHz at 100 MHz FSB.

At the time I bought my old Matrox G400, a G400 Max was a good hundred bucks more expensive down here. I never could get it to perform like a Max, but it came very close. Total cost: an old Slot 7 fan, which I had from my old K6-3. Plus an afternoon of tweaking.

Etc.

They wouldn't count as great savings, probably. I could have afforded to just get an 800 MHz Athlon, or a G400 Max. But then, it's more fun toying with it.

As for some grander SETI project, let's give it a break, really. SETI will never ever find anything, because it's looking for the awfully wrong thing. It's yet another pointless hobby, that people do mostly for the sake of bragging number of packets processed. Again, it's no worse than any other hobby, but then it's no better either.

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Moraelin -- the proud member of the Idiots' Guild

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Miless

New Member

Not to be rude but I really dont know what the heck you are trying to say

As far as OC'ing its fun its addicting I use it as a hobby.But unless you have a golden goose that gives you all the money you want then its a way to save money and cost.What will a 900+ mghz cpu cost 2 months ago or even now?I have a 700e that will run anything at 950+ but a price tag under $300.00us.Mabe try a economics class and you will get what I mean.

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Miles

This too shall pass!

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Jesstar

New Member

OC is not allways about just making your CPU go a little faster. Its all about learning how your full system works, and the theory behind the design/build of components.
I know some so called systems techs that have less a clue then me about a system configuration, and hardware requriements.
Im not an expert, but from my interest I have learned so much about the whole PC, hardware/software/protocols etc etc.
Makes me wounder 1: How they let these ppl into shops/helplines/jobs

2: I probably should study towards some form of qualification 3: That OCers are generaly more helpful,knoledgeable and willing to share what the have learnt.

UltraMatic

New Member

guavaboy

New Member

Overclocking is simply finding out the limits of your hardware. It's like having a treasure locked away in your computer and it only needs to be found. I think it would be a waste to run a cpu at it's default speed when it is capable of running at a much higher speed. And you'll never know what that speed is until you try. I don't think anyone wants to pass up finding a treasure. If you had a Honda civic and found out it could be just as fast as a Supra simply by adjusting it's timing, wouldn't you do it? It would be stupid not to. That's all we're doing. Making our compact cars run like race cars. So to answer your question, yes,it's worth it.

Hindey

Student Scumbag

Everybody has pretty said my feelings already, but to put it in my own words:

1) It saves money.
2) Kicking a modern-day sheep's bladder around like a pack of savages is dire, for me anyway. Everyone enjoys doing something for a reason, and to question it is asking to be shot down in flames and then be pissed on to extinguish it.
3) mal·aise (m-lz, -lz)n.

"A vague feeling of bodily discomfort, as at the beginning of an illness.
A general sense of depression or unease: “One year after the crash, the markets remain mired in a deep malaise” (New York Times)."

-Dictionary.com

Mailaise wasn't in there, so I guessed you meant MALAISE.

Uncomfortable? No, I'm fine thanks. Next time try to be /intellectually/ controversial, not just pick a phrase you learned at school and try and sound clever.

If i offended anyone, sorry. But I call a spade a spade.

Chris

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S_Klass

New Member

Originally posted by Rotor:You might have a point there... but then again, I don't really thing us hard core overclockers gives a damn for what the rest of the world thinks of us, we do it because we can!

by the way, overclocked computers crunch Seti much faster than there stock counterparts, so we are already using our abilities to an more "noble" cause the other scenario, why spend $1100.00+ to get 1Ghz if I can spend $70.00 on the CPU, $180.00 or so, on the mobo, $750 on an Extreme cooling rig, and still have money left over.

carlrice

New Member

Overclocking came about for the "edge factor" needed mainly during gaming. Then the hardware based, one-upmanship, bragging rights entered the picture. Then the "oh, yeah, prove it" challenge was extended. Then SETI was adopted universally as a measuring tool for speed and stability. Akin to a stopwatch for an Olympic marathon runner.

Though some OCers embrace a certain "going where no man has gone before" reason for crunching SETI, in the end it mostly boils down to the number of WUs.

Competition is rewarded with nobility. Always has been. The cream rises to the top. The one with a gold medal is the only one not a spectator.

Rising to a challenge is contributing. Is it fictitious to push an envelope? The speed of sound? The speed of light? The cure for cancer? The ability to query your existence to an audience of thousands by clicking Submit Reply? All of these non-fictions started with someone's inner fiction. Someone ensconced in mundane, monotonous, embarrasing, [email protected] endeavours who perhaps let their imagination wander and said what if?

What if I tweaks it here? Tweaks it there? What if I Linux-ize SETI and find Alpha Centaurians knocking down my front door. What if I take my U.S. Robotics Data/Fax/Voice and stick it in my Toshiba Tecra and send the mothership into a death spiral and save mankind's existence. What would I do the day after? Sheesh, I think I'll save myself a little angst and go stare at the clock and wonder what makes it tick?

Plasmid

New Member

I picked up my 300a a while back for something like $70. All I do is change the FSB in the bios of my BH6 (no added cooling or anything else) and now I'm running at 450mhz, which at the time would have cost me close to $600 I believe. Why in gods name wouldn't I want my cpu to go 50% percent faster? If all one has to do is change a setting in the bios, what would be the argument to not overclock.

just my two cents...but judging from most of the posts here, I don't think I am alone

-plasmid

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Mandoralin

New Member

a13antichrist

New Member

Personally I reckon tin-uncle is just upset because he either tried to overclockk, and couldn't manage to get it to work, or else he thought he was being really awesome and pushed his celeron to 133 and frazzled the beans out of it.

As for the 'seriously asking', I reckon that was just an attempt to protect himself form all the ridicule he KNOWS we're just dying to dish out to him...

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Nay though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death,
I will f*** up all those who piss me off

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#Rotor

The Inventor

heheh ya, more like $850 to a $1000......... but I figure, rather spend it on an extreme cooling solution, than on a already fast CPU, that will be outdated and slow in 4 months time, -40c on the slug now, is going to be just as cold as -40c on the slug of the CPU 4 months down the line....